The £630 million Aberdeen Asia Focus investment trust said it delivered a net asset value (NAV) total return of 22.3% and a share price total return of 23.9% in the year to July 31, 2026, while the MSCI AC Asia ex Japan Small Cap Index returned 9.5%.
“NAV outperformance of all peers in the AIC’s Asia Pacific Smaller Companies peers over 1, 3, 5, 10 and 25 years driven by strong stock selection, diversification and disciplined portfolio construction,” said the fund.
“Performance-linked tender test satisfied, outperforming the benchmark over the five year measurement period ending 31 July 2026 by 29.8%.
“Net assets increased to £630.2 million (2025: £558.6 million) and Net Asset Value per share increased to 460.05p (2025: 381.72p).
“Exceptionally strong earnings and returns from technology-related holdings, were balanced with exposure to a range of sectors, and underlying growth drivers, including diversified industrials, financial services, healthcare, logistics and domestic consumption, ensuring the portfolio’s resilience without reliance on any single theme.
“Three interim dividends of 1.6p and a fourth interim of 1.64p have been declared, payable in March, June, September and December 2026 totalling 6.44p (2025 – Ordinary dividend 6.43p).”
The investment trust’s biggest holdings included machinery firm Precision Tsugami China; Indian oil, gas & consumable fuels firm Aegis Logistics; Taiwanese electronics firm Chroma ATE; Taiwan Union Technology Corp; Vietnamese retailer Mobile World Investment Corporation; South Korea’s Hansol Chemical; Indian capital markets firm 360 One Wam; Taiwan’s Sino-American Silicon Products; India’s Karur Vysya Bank; and China’s Chifeng Jilong Gold Mining.
Fund managers Gabriel Sacks and Xin-Yao Ng wrote: “AI-related investment remained a major driver of market returns across semiconductor, electronics and industrial supply chains in North Asia.
“Many of the portfolio’s strongest contributors were specialist businesses operating in niche areas where technical expertise, customer relationships and high switching costs created barriers to entry.
“We identified several of these companies before the market fully appreciated the breadth and duration of AI-related capital spending, resulting in earnings growth that exceeded consensus expectations.
“Taiwan was the largest contributor to performance. Our strongest holdings occupied critical positions within semiconductor testing, materials, thermal management and networking infrastructure …
“We believe that many investors remain focused on a narrow group of AI beneficiaries and Asia’s largest technology companies. But as AI investment spreads across testing, networking, thermal management and power infrastructure, earnings upgrades have broadened beyond the most obvious semiconductor beneficiaries.
“Looking more broadly across Asia, valuation differences remain wide. Parts of India continue to trade at elevated multiples, while many businesses in China, Korea and Southeast Asia appear more attractively valued relative to their earnings prospects. This continues to create fertile conditions for active stock selection, and we remain excited about the outlook ahead.
“Southeast Asia continues to offer compelling opportunities, particularly in domestic consumption and infrastructure, even though higher energy prices have increased near-term risks for several oil-importing economies.
“Our off-benchmark exposure to Vietnam remains a key differentiator, and if anything, we have become even more bullish on the long-term outlook for the economy and the equity market.
“In China, we continue to avoid relying on a broad recovery in property or traditional consumer sectors. Instead, we favour businesses benefiting from changing consumption patterns in areas such as leisure, entertainment and travel, alongside companies exposed to automation, robotics and advanced manufacturing as the country’s industrial base continues to upgrade.
“The portfolio remains diversified across countries, sectors and growth drivers. While market volatility is likely to remain elevated, we continue to focus on identifying well-managed businesses with strong balance sheets and sustainable earnings growth.”